


The Altean Loop

by goodnessanake



Series: And We're Doing This Shit Again [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Altean, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Like, Multi, also if you notice the relationship tag, but its... there?, im not joking - Freeform, its not like in depth, its shiro/zarkon, shiro literally fucks zarkon, they are such shits, they literally just dick around
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-17
Updated: 2017-08-17
Packaged: 2018-12-16 13:56:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 11,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11830128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goodnessanake/pseuds/goodnessanake
Summary: In which the Paladins are AlteanA compilation of all the dabbles of the paladins as Alteans I wrote in my time loop/alternate realities Voltron fic, you don't need to read the whole thing to understand it





	1. Chapter 1

Loop 242 (1)

Of all the loops Hunk had been in, he had never actually been to Altea. How could he? It had been destroyed years before the loops began.

So when closed his eye in the previous loop only to open them on Altea instead of the familiar Garrison cafeteria, he felt the shock of his life.

His eyes bulged as he stared out into the city outside his window. Altea looked like a mix of Lothlórien from The Lord of the Rings and some Cyberpunk city.

In other words, it was gorgeous.

He ripped his eyes away from the stunning sight and reminded himself that he had more important things to worry about, that being finding the rest of the paladins.

Just as he was about to leave his room, he caught sight of himself in the mirror. He froze before launching himself at it.

“Holy cow!” he gasped, touching his reflection. He delicately touched his face before tentatively touching his ears. “I'm Altean!”

\-----

“Okay, so we may not be in a time loop like we thought,” Pidge said with her arms crossed. She scratched her cheek which only drew attention to the green markings on her face.

Shiro blinked and mentally scolded himself for staring before he shifted his gaze to the rest of the team.

The five paladins were gathered in the Castle of Lion’s kitchen, which was at least almost like exactly the same as always, only with way more Alteans milling about. It seemed that breakfast time was over so there was less people in there.

They were all seated at the table with Shiro at the head. They were all dressed in typical Altean garb which corresponded to their usual colours. Five plates of square looking food (huh turns out Alteans don't eat food goop all the time) were set out in front of them but they took no notice.

“We might have actually been going through alternate realities that were similar to our original. So we're following the multiple universe theory in this case. In which every possible reality can and will exist,” Lance concluded thoughtfully.

“Wow Lance. I didn't know you had it in you,” Keith said.

“I read! And besides, I like science fiction. Hundred over loops and you still don't know me that well,” Lance tsked.

“It's not loops anymore, it's alternate realities,” Hunk reminded him.

“Yeah but loops are so much easier to say,” Lance argued, “I know! We can call these variant realities loopdeeloops!”

“Nuh-uh.” Hunk shook his head.

“Nope,” Pidge shut down.

“That sounds dumb.,” Keith said.

“All right enough,” Shiro cut them off, “And Lance, we can't use loopdeeloop because it's the name of a level in Super Mario Galaxy.”

“...”

“How do you even  _know_ that?” Pidge hissed.

Shiro shrugged. “I play video games in my spare time.”

Just then an Altean lady with a long brown braid came bursting into the kitchen. She had blue markings, which seemed to be the most common colour, and was wearing the... Blue paladin armour.

“Oh, hey! I'm sorry. Is there any breakfast left?” she asked.

“Sure,” Pidge said, stunned but sliding her plate across the table to her.

“Thank you,” she said cheerfully and scarfed the food down her throat. “How's it goin’ Shiro?”

“Fine, caught some guards slacking off last night. Nothing much,” Shiro said automatically.

He blinked.

How did he know that? Oh wait, he was a captain of the guards in the Castle of Lions. Suddenly, information about his life as an Altean until this point came flooding into his head. Unlike the flashbacks he had experienced before, this felt like suddenly recalling a memory from your childhood or something you thought you had long forgotten.

“You need to lighten up a little,” the Altean blue paladin teased while waving her spork at him. She stuffed the last of the square food into her mouth. “Well I've got to go, Zarkon wants us to train more and I'm late. See you!”

She was barely out the door before Shiro turned to the rest of the team. “Did you guys feel that?”

“You mean suddenly receiving memories of living this life? Yes,” Keith replied.

“That never happened before,” Hunk said slowly.

“Well up till now, we've been in realities where everything was just about exactly the same so of course, it wouldn't have happened before. Or maybe the changes were so subtle we didn't notice it,” Pidge thought out loud, “These memories are probably from the ‘us’ that have been living here until now.”

“Our ‘loopdeeloop memories’ if you will,” Lance added.

“Lance,” Keith deadpanned.

“Yes?”

“Shut up.”


	2. Chapter 2

Loop 242 ALTEAN (2)

Of all thing to feel weirded out by in this Altean loopdeeloop, Lance felt that not being the blue paladin was the biggest one.

It was not the first time he was not the blue paladin - don't get him wrong - but at least those last times he chose not to be whether it be by choosing not to leave the Earth in those loops or otherwise.

But this was the first time he was not the blue paladin by default and Lance did not know how to feel about that.

He walked through the trade centre lost in thought. He was supposed to pick up some fabric imported from a far-off planet whose name he could remember if he bothered to think hard enough. 

Shiro was a guard so he had to report for duty and told them to meet him at his quarters later that night. Keith in this world was apparently his adopted brother and a guard in training so he followed Shiro.

Hunk was an engineer at a local shop but was often called to the castle for routine maintenance along with a whole slew of other engineers. And today just so happens to be one of those days so he had to go do his job as well.

Pidge was a programmer. A combat simulation and weaponry programmer. Nothing good could come out of this. A smile grew on her face as she explained that she had to go. Lance shuddered slightly. After knowing Pidge for over a hundred years give or take he didn't want to know what she was thinking.

And that left Lance.

According to his loop memories, he was a tailor. A royal tailor. In fact, he apparently came from a long line of tailors. And his memories told him that the shipment of fabric he needed was arriving that day. Hence why he was out at the trade centre at that moment.

Of all the loops thus far this was, of course, the most interesting. It really did shake things up a bit. They all had no idea what was or might happen next and it both frightened and excited them. 

Lance arrived at the fabric shop. It was a small simple thing but it received and shipped fabric from all over the galaxy, this was just the store front. The real business was at their warehouse on the other side of the centre. Lance greeted the vendor cheerfully and paid for his items as they brought his shipment out from the storage.

“So what's the special occasion?” the vendor, Blaechleah, his brain supplies, was taller and darker than him. His long white hair was pulled into a braid which trailed down his back and his bangs dark complexion brought out the light purple markings on his face.

“Hm?”

“You haven't worn that outfit since the Blue Paladin selections.” Blaechleah elaborated.

In all honesty, Lance was completely unaware of the significance of these clothes since it was just the first outfit he saw and grabbed it. That was before he gained his loop memories. Now that he thought about it, this world’s Lance wanted to be the Blue paladin very badly and when he was not chosen, he was devastated and had come to associate those feeling with these clothes.

Fortunately, the Lance in the driver's seat has over a hundred loops of experience as the Blue paladin, so he was good on sitting this one out, even if he did feel weird not being the Blue lion’s first choice anymore.

He shrugged. “Just felt like a change,” he eventually said as he took his fabric.

When he arrived back at the castle the first thing he did was to head straight down to his workroom. He blinked as he took in the room. The ceiling was high. Very high. And the work tables were strewn with paper, clutter and fabric. There were some unfinished clothes on some mannequins and design ideas were scrawled on the holoboard on the walls.

At the workstations were two other Alteans (his assistants) already doing their work. They barely looked up to greet him, obviously concentrating very hard.

He did not even know that a room like this had existed in the castle before but his loop memories supplied everything he needed to know so he grabbed the dress laid out on his table and got to work.


	3. Chapter 3

Loop 242 ALTEAN (3)

The knock on the door announced the arrival of Lance’s next client. He quickly turned off his radio and looked up from the dress he was currently working on and... Oh. It was princess Allura. She looked younger than he had ever seen her. Physically she was exactly the same but she seemed younger somehow? His two assistants fell completely silent.

She entered the workroom looking thoroughly annoyed and uncomfortable. His loop memories supplied that she had gotten fed up with his attempts at wooing her and had very publicly rejected him, stating every single reason why she would never ever ever accept his courtship in excruciating detail. Wow this world’s Lance just couldn't catch a break could he?

“Hey Allura,” he greeted casually, catching Allura off guard. Not surprising since apparently he had been avoiding her and putting off her dress fitting for weeks now. “Your dress is over there, go ahead and try it on.” He pointed at the dress folded neatly on the countertop across him. “Let me know if anything needs to be altered.” And with that, he went back to the intricate beading on the dress in his hands.

Allura stayed rooted on the spot, her expression flickered between guilt and uncertainty. “Lance,” she began, “are you alright?”

“Never been better,” he answered truthfully. “Why?”

She was silent for a while. “Nothing,” she said eventually.

She grabbed her new dress and went off behind the changing screen to change. His female assistant, Ewara, followed to help her dress.

It was quiet except for the rustle of fabric, his second assistant Caelnis’ sewing machine and Lance’s humming a popular song that Keith wrote when they accidentally became a boy band loops ago. He tapped his foot to the imaginary beat and bobbed his head as he worked.

“Okay. I’m done,” Allura announced and came out from behind the changing screen.

She was wearing a long sleeved white dress with gold lace trimming the edges of her sleeves and hems of the skirt. On the bodice was more gold embroidery that vaguely resembles an abstract tree made out of triangles. Ewara stood next to her in case she needed anything.

Lance whistled, “Looking good as usual princess. How does it feel?”

She looked almost relieved when he complimented her. “It's good. Everything fits fine,” she said waving Ewara away.

“Great!” Lance mentally patted this world’s Lance on the back. “But wait, let me show you something.” He tapped the holographic buttons on the worktable and the lights dimmed.

And in the slight darkness lights began to glow on Allura’s dress, they were little pinpricks of light which made them look like stars in the distant sky.

“Oh my goodness,” Allura gasped.

She touched the lights to see if there were any beads or anything that made it glow. All she felt was smooth silk, it was nothing but fabric.

Lance flicked the lights back on. “Pretty neat huh?” he grinned,“I call it the starlight dress. Pretty sure this'll be the next biggest trend.”

Allura looked like she wanted to say something but decided at the last second to hold her tongue. “It's beautiful,” she said in the end.

“Thanks!” Lance said brightly and looked back to the dress he was working on.

He held it up and decided that this dark forest green dress was for Pidge. The skirt was so floofy that it could conceal so many pockets and hidden compartments and the sleeves had little openings in the hems to store paper or a small knife. She would probably love this, Lance mused.

Allura changed back to her usual dress. Ewara took the starlight dress from her and folded it neatly before placing it on her table to be ironed and sent to the princess’ room later.

Allura made no move to leave. The awkward air between them was stifling. Lance sighed and threw the dress onto the table. It seemed like he needed to be the adult in this situation.

“Princess, I know you want to say something so let's get this over with.”

That seemed to shock her out of her thoughts. “I-it's nothing. Thank you for the dress,” she stammered as she rushed out.

Lance huffed in amusement and turned his radio back on. It was really interesting to see Allura without the fate of the universe on her shoulders, even if she was being awkward because she thinks she had truly hurt this world’s Lance. Eh, she’ll get over it, Lance thought to himself.

“Okay, what was up with that?” Caelnis demanded, completely giving up the pretence of working.

“Yes Lance!” Ewara said, “Yesterday you were crying about how you'll never get look her in the eye again and now you're acting like nothing happened? What's going on?”

“And you didn't even try to flirt with her,” Caelnis added.

In all honesty, Lance’s crush on Allura faded by the second loop. Now he just flirted with her because it was fun to see her completely unamused by his antics. He was just treating her like his friend now. And yes that means he flirts with his friends too.

“I got over it,” Lance replied truthfully.

“I find that hard to believe,” Ewara narrowed her eyes. “What in the dark nebula are you planning Lance?”

“Let me guess, you have a fifty step plan to winning her back and the dress was the first step,” Caelnis accused.

“Yeah sure, whatever.” Lance rolled his eyes, going back to Pidge’s dress.

“We’ll figure out your plan sooner or later,” threatened Caelnis as he and Ewara also went back to work.

Lance rolled his eyes again and winced a little at the terrible music on the radio. He wondered if he could convince the others to record a few songs for him to play. It had been a while since the boy band loop after all.


	4. Chapter 4

Loop 242 ALTEAN (5)

Pidge was in heaven. It was always a pain to decipher alien tech and info because she could never read it, especially when they were in Altean because they had at least ten different writing systems and differing vocabulary depending on context. Not only that but learning Altean was an excruciatingly painful process. Literally. But now that they were all Altean, reading was a breeze.

Her lab, well more like a glorified closet, was dim and her glow of the monitors were the only lights in the room at the time.

She was writing the last line of code into Rover 57469999.0 (yes she has made  _that_ many Rovers) when light streamed in from the open door. The lights stabbed into her eyes and she let out an angry cat hiss. Lance came bouncing into her lab without a care in the world regardless.

“Pidge! I've got something for you!” he exclaimed.

She turned away from him and back to her screen. “Yeah what is it?”

Lance threw a paper package at her head which burst open with a sea of fabric, effectively covering her entire head.

“Hey, what's the big idea?!” she yelled while yanking it off but fell out of her chair as the fabric got caught in her pointy ears. 

“New dress. Enjoy,” Lance sniggered. “Also I'm holding a rave in the ballroom next Restday. You coming?”

“Yeah yeah sure,” Pidge waved him off.

He waved her goodbye as he walked out. Pidge had not noticed that he had packaged clothing tucked under his arms until then.

She huffed and turned the dress over. “Nice,” she said and then tossing it over her shoulder. Maybe she'll go try it on later.

\-----

Allura wasn't sure what to think about Lance and his band of friends anymore. She did not even know that they were friends with each other until this point.

Of course, she knew of Shiro, Pidge, Keith and Hunk. Emphasis on the words ‘ _of’._ She  _knew of_ them. She had never actually spoken to them before. Of course, she'd seen them in the castle from time to time but they blurred together with all the other members of the staff in the castle. They were just any other workers in the intricate ecosystem that was the castle to her.

“SHIIRO! PIIIDGE! KEIIITH! HUUNK!” Lance screamed while sliding down the grand stairwell railing, practically a blur with the speed he was going. He flew off the railings and sailed through the air heading straight for the four.

They had a split second to react and as if they were one being, took one step away. A loud ‘THWAK!’ echoed through the grand hall as Lance smashed face first into the floor.

The four looked completely unconcerned when a pool of blood formed around Lance’s head. Allura and a few other witnesses rushed over in a panic but the four other Alteans brushed her off saying “he’ll be fine. Just gotta stick him in a healing pod for a few hours.”

Then they argued over whose turn it was to take him to the infirmary before making strange hand gestures like clenched fists, sticking two fingers out and open hands before one of them came to a decision.

The one in red groaned and swung Lance over his shoulders and carried him off with a fondly exasperated look on his face while the other three went on as if nothing happened.

If they hadn't made an impression before, they certainly have now


	5. Chapter 5

Loop 242 ALTEAN (6)

They were back in the dining hall giving each other updates on their day. Pidge was experimenting on Altean shapeshifting and was shifting through colours rapidly as if someone was sliding through the hue options back and forth in Photoshop. (Please assume that her skin is having a fuckin colour rave throughout the rest of the scene)

This time, there were some other Alteans milling about and having their meals. Some of them gave them strange looks and others whispered behind their hands. The team took no notice.

“So,” Shiro began seriously, “We need to address the elephant in the room. What are we going to do about Zarkon?” He said it like it was a statement and not a question.

The team stole glances at each other. “I was hoping you guys would have some ideas,” Lance admitted.

“Same,” Hunk said.

“I'm not sure if this is going to be an alternate universe where he’s not evil and all or that we’re just plopped on Altea before shit goes down. So I'm not even sure what  _to_ do,” Pidge said while making the Gendou Ikari pose which didn't really have the same effect without her glasses on.

“Has anyone actually you know,  _talked_ to Zarkon yet?” Keith asked.

Everyone shook their heads.

“Well, he's not exactly unapproachable now. He's the black paladin so anyone could just walk up to him right?” Keith went on.

Technically they could, there wasn't any laws or anything stopping them. Hell, the Blue Paladin (Belesprit his brain supplies) knew Shiro by name.

“Well if you want to talk to Zarkon there he is right now,” Lance pointed out.

Said alien had just entered the dining hall with a tray of his lunch. He looked much younger and less like a wrinkled prune. Those ten thousand years were not kind to him.

“That's a great idea, Lance,” Keith said. “HEY ZARKON! OVER HEEEERE!” He started waving and pointing at the empty seat at their table.

Everyone in the dining hall turned to look at him in horror.

Lance dived across the table and covered Keith’s mouth. “Keith I swear your impulsiveness if going to get us killed! I mean, it DID multiple times, but that's beside the point!”

But it was too late. Zarkon had walked over to their table.

“Hello, you're Keith, right? And this is your brother Shiro? Belesprit talks about you two sometimes,” Zarkon said and took the empty seat next to Shiro, “and who are your friends?”

“Ah, hey!” Shiro greeted him awkwardly, “Ah um this is my tea- I mean friends, yeah these are my friends, Hunk from engineering, Pidge from programming, Lance the tailor and Keith my brother butyoualreadyknowthat.”

They all called out “hello”s and “hey”s as their names were called.

“Hello nice to meet you too,” Zarkon politely greeted back.

“...”

“...”

"So..." Zarkon said, "Nice weather we're having."

"Yeah."

"Uh huh."

"Totally."

"..." Hunk and Shiro kept glancing back and forth from their food to Zarkon.

"..." Pidge kept her eyes firmly on her food.

Keith never took his eyes off him as he shoved food into his mouth. Lance looked anywhere but at him, and Zarkon was just really confused.

Finally, unable to take it any longer Zarkon said, “Should I go?”

“No no!” Shiro scrambled, “I'm sorry, it's just that we’re...”

“Nervous,” Keith added quickly.

“Yes! Nervous! Yes! Thank you, Keith.”

“You don't have to be,” Zarkon smiled, “I'm your black paladin and it is my duty to protect you. I can't have that the very people I try to protect are afraid to just speak to me.”

Somehow, Zarkon being nice and kind was worse than any torture the Galra put them through. It just sounded...  _wrong._ Like,  _bad touch_ wrong.

“Um. Thank you Zarkon.”

“Why don't you all come by and the paladins train sometime? We could show you some moves and get to know us better,” Zarkon offered.

“Thank you for the kind offer Zarkon,” Shiro said, “We’ll see if we can come by.”

“Great! I'll see you then!” Zarkon cheered and went off to put away his empty tray.

“...”

“I blame Keith.”

“Lance.”

“Yeah?”

“Shut up.”


	6. Chapter 6

Loop 242 ALTEAN (7)

Allura had made an embarrassingly large tear in her skirt from running about too much. She had no idea what exactly she did wrong, one moment she was bending down to pick up a flower and the next a loud ‘RIIIIP!” was heard.

She blushed bright pink and immediately ran off to Lance’s sewing room. Lance took one look at her and burst out laughing.

As it turns out, she had outgrown her dress and required a new one. And I say outgrown with inverted commas. Luckily, Lance had an abundance of spare dresses lying about and loaned her one until he could make her a new one (she was adamantly clear that she was made a dress exactly the same as her old one.)

While Lance quickly and efficiently took her measurements, she wracked her brain for something to say. His two assistants were eerily silent and that made her nervous. Usually, they would be throwing her reassurances and insults at Lance while he made stupid jokes in hopes that she'd find him charming.

It was weird that Lance suddenly got over her. He did not go out of his way to try (and fail) to impress her anymore which was nice but it was strange. Like he matured overnight.  ~~Which was attractive~~.

Okay maybe not  _mature_ mature, she thought, remembering of the hours he spent healing in a cryopod after cracking his skull against the floor.

“So...” she began.

“Hm?”

“Have you noticed that Shiro and Zarkon have been spending an  _awful_ lot of time with each other lately?”

Lance choked on air and coughed violently. “W-what are you trying to say?” he sputtered.

“I'm just trying to say that they have been getting a lot  _closer_ don't you think?”

Lance looked slightly pale. “N-no.”

“It's true! Haven't you noticed that every time they're in a room together all Shiro ever looks at is Zarkon?”

“That probably doesn't mean anything.”

Lance didn't meet her eyes. Hmm, suspicious.

“ _And_ Zarkon offered to train with Shiro next Humpday,” Allura added.

“Shiro is a captain of the royal guard and Zarkon is the black paladin. It just makes sense for them to train together,” Lance defended.

“Well don't you think that they’d be a cute couple together?” Allura insisted.

“NO. NEVER. EW. NO,” Lance immediately screamed waving his arms about as if he could fight off the image.

Hmm Lance seemed extremely defensive, especially about Zarkon and Shiro being a couple. Coupled with the fact that he seemed to magically get over his ten-year-old crush on her overnight.

Oh. OOOOOOOOH.

Everything made sense now! Lance had a crush on Shiro! It was so obvious! How could she have not seen it before? The lack of flirting, how he suddenly seemed to hang around him more, his sudden maturity. It just made sense!

It was too bad that Shiro was obviously interested in Zarkon and vice versa. Lance always seemed to fall for the wrong people and Allura could not help but feel sorry for him.

“Hey, Lance?” Allura said gently and placed a hand on his shoulder. “It's okay.”

“What?” Lance replied, looking very pink in the face, “What are you talking about?”

“Your crush on Shiro of course!”

Lance made a ‘pfft’ sound and waved Allura’s hand away. “ _Everyone_ has a crush on Shiro. Even Keith, though he denies it.”

“What?!” Allura gasped.

Keith? As in Shiro’s adopted brother? Just what sort of relationship do they have?

“Well, it's kind of hard not to you know?” Lance went on, “Shiro is like, the best. He’s smart, funny, disgustingly handsome, I mean, have you  _seen_ his winged eyeliner game? Ridiculous, those wings so sharp they could kill a man. And he's a  _great_ leader. He's a total manwhore, don't tell him I told you that, but he’s always there for us y’know?”

“Right...” Allura said weakly, her mind racing at the implications.

“All right! Done!” Lance announced and tapped the final measurements into his holopad. “Your dress should be done by about next Nightday.” Lance nodded to himself as he scrolled through his fitting appointments on his holopad. “So is there anything else I can help you with?”

“Oh! Um, nothing thanks!” Allura said.

As she was about to leave the room she turned around and added, “But if there's anything you need to talk about, anything at all, you can talk to me okay?”

“Uh, sure princess,” Lance waved her goodbye and turned around to see his two assistants staring at him like he's grown an extra head.

“What?”


	7. Chapter 7

Loop 242 ALTEAN (8)

Shiro was going through the motions of combat training with his subordinates. They were a rowdy but good-hearted bunch, it kind of reminded him of his subordinates back when he was in the Garrison before he was abducted anyway.

Keith was training under another captain since they thought that having family members in the same squad wasn't very professional, adopted or not.

Shiro was pretty sure that Keith was skilled and experienced enough to be a captain himself but he kept that information to himself since people might find Keith's sudden spike in combat abilities suspicious.

Never mind that people had already found Lance’s sudden change of behaviour strange, they'd just chalk it up to Lance being Lance.

It was Nightday so it was literally night all day. Altea has an eight-day week and once a week it would be night for the whole 28 hours of the day.

Lance’s starlight dresses were really hitting it off with people walking around in the darkness showing off the tiny twinkling lights of their dresses. Shiro was pretty sure that Lance was planning a men's line soon. And he was also pretty sure that he has designs made exclusively for himself and the team.

“All right that's enough,” he said loudly and all the sparring Altean guards dropped their fighting stances, “Well done. That's it for today. Remember to patrol your section later and  _no slacking off._ Dismissed.”

His subordinates moaned and groaned as they left the training grounds when Pidge came by, flouncing in in the new dress Lance made her, which had the fluffiest skirt he has ever seen.

“Yo Shiro,” Pidge greeted him with her holopad in hand, “I was wondering...”

“That's a dangerous thing if I've ever heard one.”

“Shut up.” She smacked him in the arm. “I was wondering if you'd accompany me to town. There's a weird art gallery I wanna check out.” She put her holopad into her skirt and it disappeared, as if it was absorbed into it. Shiro wondered what else is being stored in there.

“Sure. I have nothing better to do. What about the others?” Shiro asked as they walked out together.

“Lance is fitting Hunk in his latest fashion experiment and Keith is.... actually, I have no idea where Keith is.”

“He’ll turn up eventually,” Shiro assured her as if Keith was her lost keys or a puppy.

They bumped into Allura outside of the room. “Shiro and Pidge! Hey!” Allura exclaimed awkwardly.

“Hey, princess,” Pidge said, “Shiro and I are gonna go into town wanna join us?”

“Going into town to do what?”

“Just to look at some art gallery. Nothing much,” Pidge shrugged. “Oh hey, you could ask Coran to come with us!”

“Coran? He's my father’s advisor and very busy, I can't possibly call him for a trivial matter like this.”

Pidge and Shiro looked at each other then back at Allura. Were Coran and Allura not close before the war?

“Right new plan,” Pidge said and grabbed one of Allura’s arm while Shiro grabbed the other, “We're going to take you and Coran out into town for some uncle-niece bonding time.”

“Coran is not my uncleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-” the last bit turned into a screech as Pidge and Shiro raced down the halls so fast they were dragging her through the air.

\-----

Coran was in the study looking through some diagnostics on the castle in the study, when Allura and two other Alteans came bursting through the doors, Allura looking as though she went through a wind tunnel on the Kraknarian sect and the other two looking entirely unruffled.

“Allura? Is something the matter?” he asked.

The two Alteans he didn't know stared at him in shock. “Oh shit,” the smaller Altean with green markings gaped, “He's hot.”

The taller one with purple markings wearing what he realised was the guard captain’s uniform blurted out, “Coran please never grow a moustache.”

“Um, Allura who are these... fine people?” he asked, completely confused.

“I'm so sorry Coran-” Allura began but was cut off by Pidge.

“Hey, Coran! You don't know me but I'm Pidge and we, Shiro and I that is, decided to take you and Allura out into town for some uncle-niece bonding you free?” Pidge said very fast.

“Technically I am-” he began but was also cut off by the small one, Pidge, yelling, “Great! Let's go!”

And the two strangers dragging both him and Allura away.


	8. Chapter 8

Loop 242 ALTEAN (9)

Allura had no idea how in the world she got into this situation. She was in her starlight dress in front of a large art gallery with a small pistol strapped to her thigh.

The art gallery was a little more run down and rudimentary compared to the castle but it seemed homey nonetheless.

“Okay, Allura I need you act natural and walk in,” Shiro’s voice said into her ear through her earing intercom.

“I thought we were just going to look at art,” she hissed as she walked into the gallery and smiled weakly at the staff who scrambled to greet her.

“We are, just not for the reasons most people do,” Pidge said, “Coran, are you in position?”

“Yes, I am,” resounded in her ears.

“Okay good. Princess, I need you to cause a big enough distraction and then get into the backroom. Coran’ll get in from the door in the back alleyway and meet you inside.”

“I've hacked their security cameras so I can see everything, Shiro is out here as backup in case things get nasty. Don't worry, I'll make sure it won't come to that,” Pidge reassured as she pressed a key on her laptop and it displayed where the two of them were.

Allura was being pestered by a curator inside the main exhibition room and Coran was crouching next to the back alleyway door with an unconscious person behind him.

“You don't need to explain it again you've already told us,” Allura hissed.

“Yeah but the audience doesn't know that.”

“Pidge. Don't break that,” Shiro scolded.

“What?”

“The fourth wall.”

“Oooooooh sorry.”

“What in the world are they talking about?” Allura asked.

“I don't know,” Coran said throwing a backwards glance at the large alien he had knocked out before entering the premises, “but a normal art gallery wouldn't need to have hired thugs guarding their back entrance.”

The hallway was dimly lit and dirty, boxes of wires and art junk cluttering the hallway.

“I already told you, we suspect that the art gallery is just a front for drug trafficking and illegal weapon dealings,” Pidge said.

“Well, that was before, when I thought you two were just crazy,” he said, “Okay, I'm in. What do I have to do?”

“Alright. Go down the hallway and turn left, you should see a door with a keypad lock. Stick the drive I gave you into it. I'll be able to remotely hack it from here.”

“What's inside?” Coran asked as he followed Pidge’s instructions.

“It's the main office,” Shiro replies while Pidge was busy, “We suspect that that is where they're keeping all the drugs and weapons.”

“And now exactly do you know all this?” Coran asked while watching the numbers on the display of the keypad go through several sequences before unlocking with a hiss.

“Okay I'm done, go on in,” Pidge announced.

“We've been observing this place for a few days now,” was all Shiro gave in explanation.

The office looked just like any other, table, chairs, cabinets, suspicious wrinkle under the carpet. Coran was not stupid so he immediately threw off the carpet to reveal absolutely nothing.

Coran scratched his nose. He was so sure...

“There aren't any cameras in there so could you take a few photos on the camera I gave you. The pictures should automatically be sent to my laptop,” Pidge instructed as she flipped through the different cameras to see if there were anyone coming down the hall. So far nothing.

Coran snapped a few pictures but then noticed that the wallpaper behind the desk was uneven. He pulled his knife out and began cutting. Sure enough, there was a secret compartment behind it. He pulled out a few boxes and pried them open with his knife, sure enough, there were guns inside them.

“I found the weapons,” he announced and snapped a picture to be sent to Pidge.

Allura tried to focus and listen to what Pidge was saying while looking like she was interested in what the curator was saying. “Your Highness, may I interest you in purchasing one of our fine pieces today?”

“Oh um, no that's okay. I'll just go around and have a look first if that's okay with you?” she said and quickly walked away from him.

The gallery itself was well lit and spacious. In the centre of the room was a large statue of a juniberry flower made out of a blue crystal on a pedestal.

“It's beautiful,” she whispered and read the card underneath it, “Made out of Ignarikan ice crystals.”

“What?!” Coran yelled, “Princess that's an incredibly dangerous crystal! Don't touch it! Ignarikan crystals cause everything around it to freeze when broken!”

Pidge spotted movement on the cameras. “Coran get out there's someone coming your way,” she warned.

Coran did as he was told but it was too late and he was spotted, he did not stick around for long as he raced down the hallway.

“You there!” the alien shouted and gave chase.

The badge on the curato's vest lit up and he looked up in shock and irritation. “Excuse me for a moment, your highness,” he apologised, "There is a little bit of a storage crisis at the back." he explained heading for the back room.

Thinking fast, Allura whipped her pistol out and aimed it at the crystal.

“Don't move."

\-----

“Allura! What happened?!” cried King Alfor as ran up to them looking regally frazzled. If there was anyone who could look regal and frazzled at the same time, it was King Alfor.

Allura rested her forehead on Coran’s shoulder as he supported her, the Ignarikan ice spearing through the building glittered in the moonlight. “It’s a long story,” she said a weak laugh.

Behind them stood Pidge and Shiro as the observed the scene. Pidge held a fist out to him. “I'd say that this uncle-niece bonding was a rousing success.”

Shiro fist bumped her and said, “Yeah, me too.” But then his voice turned serious. “Did you get a look look at the weapons?”

“Yes,” she replied, looking at the picture on her holopad, “It's not of Galra make if that's what you're wondering.”

“Damn. I actually thought we were getting somewhere,” Shiro cursed.

“It's fine,” Pidge reassured him, “Just keep an eye on Zarkon, for now.”

“Right.”


	9. Chapter 9

Loop 242 ALTEAN (10)

It was late at night on Altea. Keith was tasked to stand guard at the Red Lion’s hangar by his captain. Of course, he could have just skipped and goofed off like some of the other trainees, this was a time of peace after all, but he was given a job and he would damn well do it, even if it made him totally uncomfortable because feelings.

It was strange. He still felt a connection to her, like she was still there at the back of his mind. Constant and comforting but faint nevertheless. In all the other previous loops he'd always been the red paladin first before he'd hand over the reins to someone else or just not awaken the princess altogether. He was always Red’s first choice in the Default Loop.

He was not so arrogant as to think that he was just some chosen one, anyone with quintessence similar enough to Red’s and a personality that impresses her could be her pilot but he could not help but feel a little betrayed and jealous.

He stared up at Red, her figure looming over him. She always did make an imposing figure, especially when you were standing right in front of her.

“Hello there, what are you doing?” 

Oh fuck.

Keith whipped around to see this world's current red paladin, Ikenna.

Ikenna was an extremely tall alien completely towering over him. She was wearing a maroon cloth draped over her like a toga. Her skin was white and translucent, her red veins showing clearly on her skin. She had no hair but had tiny little goat-like horns protruding from her temples.

She peered at him with her glowing violet eyes. "Hello little guard, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"Ah- Um-" Keith stuttered, mind racing to find an explanation that didn't make him sound like a total nut case, "I just wanted to admire the Red Lion?"

Ikenna nodded thoughtfully. "Ah, unsurprising, Red is most impressive."

"Yes, she is," Keith replied, and then the two lapsed into silence.

Ikenna scratched her neck while Keith struggled to say something but could not for the life of him think of a single thing to say. The silence was completely stifling like an oppressing weight on his chest and Keith was getting the feeling that he was completely embarrassing himself. It was times like these that he sincerely missed his team.

"Uh... so..." he began, "What are you doing out so late?" 

"Hm? Oh, I was thinking of taking a midnight ride around the atmosphere."

"Ah," Keith said. 

“Okay,” Ikenna said and then another prolonged pause, “I'll be going now.”

“Right. I should go back to my post,” Keith said hurriedly and about turned, hastily leaving.

He cursed himself, small talk was not that hard now was it? There were a hundred things he could have said but his mind came up with a blank. People thought that he did not care about socialising very much and that he was a naturally quiet guy, no, he liked talking to people he just did not know how. So he cut his losses and stayed quiet in the background hoping that he did not embarrass himself. He ran a hand down his face as he returned to his position outside the entrance of the hangar. She probably thought that he was weird, he hoped he did not need to speak Ikenna ever again.

He heard the familiar sound of Red taking off. Ikenna probably thought that he was weird. Oh god, he really blew it, didn't he? He needed a hole in the ground stat. He hoped he didn't need to speak her ever again.


	10. Chapter 10

Loop 242 ALTEAN (11)

Keith was last to turn up to their little recording session but he had to say, the instruments that Hunk and Pidge managed to make from scratch were truly impressive.

He had to admit that he did miss playing the bass just a little. After the band loop they did not really play anymore and they never found an opportunity to play what with other loopdeeloop shenanigans occupying their time. Now that Lance randomly asked them to record a few songs because ‘the radio music on Altea sucks’, they finally got the band back together.

Keith did some scales on his new bass. He was a little rusty but nothing a little warm up could not fix.

“Everyone ready?” Lance asked as the sound of tuning instruments died down.

A chorus of slightly enthusiastic ‘yeah’s answered him.

Lance began the beginning chords of a long memorised song. Everyone immediately perked up.

Shiro groaned, “Lance no.”

“Lance YES,” the rest of the team yelled.

Shiro shook his head affectionately and began singing,  _“No chance no way, I won't say I'm in love~”_

“  _YOU SWOON YOU SIGH WHY DENY IT OH OOH~”_ everyone sang the backup with much overflowing enthusiasm and barely suppressed giggles.

\-----

Allura had begun to look over her shoulder when she walked around now, she never knew when one of the five would pop out and drag her somewhere.

So in her heightened alerted state she was very quickly able to pick up muffled from down the corridor. Curious, she followed the sound and came up at a door. It was one of their smaller auditoriums for hosting small gatherings or meetings.

The door was slightly ajar so she took a peek, inside she was, speak of the devil, the five of them. They were playing strange instruments that Allura had never seen before and trust me, she has travelled galaxies with her father and she has never seen instruments looking exactly like those.

 _“My head is screaming ‘get a grip boy’, unless you're dying to cry your heart out~!”_ Shiro sang passionately.

“  _Boy, you can't deny it, who you are and how you're feeling, baby we're not buying,”_ the rest of them sang in unison.

Allura covered her mouth to prevent herself from letting out a squeak. Her translator blinking to life indicated that it was translating a new language but that was not what got her attention.

Shiro was singing about denying his feelings about someone. Holy quiznack he DOES have a crush on Zarkon! I mean, she already suspected but this confirms it!

Oh poor Shiro, he was probably hurt before so that was why he was so shy in approaching Zarkon now! But the rest of the five had a crush on Shiro too, but they were urging him to admit his feelings?

Oh! They were probably thinking ‘as long as the person I love is happy, I'm happy’. Oooh, those poor sweethearts!

Well! If there was one thing Allura enjoyed, it was a good and happy relationship. She was determined to get Shiro and Zarkon together if it was the last thing she would do.


	11. Chapter 11

Loop 242 ALTEAN (12)

Zarkon was sitting in the lounge reading the news on his holopad when the Princess approached him.

“Hello, Princess.” He greeted her.

“Hello, Zarkon!” Her voice was strangely high pitched as she sat next to him.

They lapsed into silence. Zarkon shifted awkwardly in his seat as the Princess stared at him expectantly. Allura was a trusted comrade’s daughter but he never really spoke with her all that much. Come to think of it, apart from Shirogane and his friends, no one has really approached him unless it was for official Paladin business anymore. What, were they intimidated by him?

“Erm, is there anything I can help you with?” He asked.

“Soooo Zarkon.” Allura began, her eyes shining with something he couldn't identify. “I see that you're spending more time with the guard captain Shiro these days.”

“Yes, he's a very capable fighter. Almost about as determined as a Galra soldier.” He replied. Shirogane was an excellent if unconventional fighter. He was a good leader and had a strong bond with his friends, he could have been molded into an excellent Black Paladin.

Allura clasped her hand and let out an excited squeak, that was high praise coming from a Galra! “And how do you feel about Shiro himself, like, do you think he's attractive?”

Now Zarkon really didn't know where she was going with this. “He's… aesthetically pleasing for an Altean man.” He said after some hesitation, “Princess why are you asking me this?”

The Princess, however, looked extremely pleased with herself. “It's nothing Zarkon, I'm glad we had this talk.” She smiled as she stood to leave.

Zarkon continued to stare after her long after she'd left and ended up staring blankly at the closed door. What was that all about?

Why would the Princess suddenly so interested in Captain Shiro? Unless… nah it couldn't be. Could it?

 

\-----

Lance stared at her for a long while, not moving a muscle, as if assessing the outfit took so much higher brain capacity that it locked out all his other bodily functions. He had his arms crossed and a hand on his chin. He tilted his head one way, then the other, his frown deepening further.

He was thinking so hard that smoke was pouring out of his ears. A quantum supercomputer couldn't compute how much brain power he was using right now. And then suddenly, he deflated. “Nope, nuh-uh. Not even the Princess’ powers can make that look good.” He sighed.

Allura had long learned not to question Lance about his eccentricities. As strange as he may be he knew his stuff so she trusted him with her wardrobe, maybe not with her life but with Lance she'd know that she'd at least go down looking fabulous.

Currently, he had her wearing socks with strange shoes made of a smooth nonabsorbent material with holes punched into the top.

“It's too bad,” Lance sighed. “I could put you in a barrel and you'd still be able to pull off the look but Crocs and socks? No way.” He heaved a very disappointed sigh.

“I don't understand.” She said.

“Don't you worry your pretty little head about it.” Lance assured her as he handed her shoes back. “Thanks for modelling for me again, I know you're busy doing royal princess stuff.”

“Not at all.” She smiled, quickly slipping her shoes on. “Hey, Lance I have some things to ask you.”

He was neatly folding the clothes on his work table and making small notes on his holopad. “Hm?”

“So I have this friend who is deeply in love with another person but the other person may or may not be interested in them, how do you think I should set them up?”

Lance tapped his stylus pen on his lip. “Experience tells me that you should let things run its course and let them figure things out themselves.” He said wisely and Allura deflated a little.

“But where's the fun in that?!” He laughed, “I suggest locking them in a broom closet. It's a classic but don't do it too soon, wait until their UST is so thick you can almost cut it.”

“UST?”

“Unresolved Sexual Tension.” He explained. “You might also want to ask what this person your friend likes what sort of things they enjoy like maybe a particular brand of a kind of food, common ground and all that stuff. Or maybe invite them both out and try to get them to interact a little more.”

Allura nodded vigorously, mind whirring with the possibilities and planning on the execution. Lance just smiled at the innocent and enthusiastic Allura, the war definitely change her, though this nosey gossipy side of her did shine through once and awhile.

“Thanks for the advice Lance, I think I know what to do now!” She thanked him as she rushed out.

“Hmm I wonder what that's all about.” Lance asked the air while his assistants stare at him like he's the densest idiot in the universe.


	12. Chapter 12

Loop 242 ALTEAN(13) 

Caelnis and Ewara were having their lunch break when Lance burst into the sewing room, hair wild and expression frantic. 

“What did you do this time?” Ewara sighed, putting down her gilgoran meat sandwich. 

“Me?! NOTHING. What makes you think I did anything?” Lance burst out. 

Caelnis and Ewara raised an eyebrow at him. 

“Yeah okay, I'll give you that,” he conceded, “but this time this isn't my fault!” 

Ewara leaned a head against her palm. “What happened.” She said in a monotone. 

“Okay so Allura invited me to the Crystal Chasm wi-” he began but was interrupted by Caelnis’ sudden violent coughing. “Dude you okay?” 

“Allura WHAT?!” He screamed. The Crystal Cham was one of the most romantic, and not to mention expensive, restaurant in Capital City! And Allura invited Lance to go with her?! 

Lance waved his hand dismissively, “Yeah but that's not the point!” 

“NOT THE POINT?!” Ewara screeched, “You’ve been asking her out for years! YEARS! Who are you and what have you done with Lance?!” Caelnis nodding his head vigorously in agreement behind her. 

“I have no idea what you're talking about.” Lance denied and steamrolled when Ewara tried to interrupt, “But the point is! She invited me to the Crystal Chasm with Zarkon and Shiro so she can try setting them up!” 

Caelnis and Ewara looked at him like he was an idiot. “So?” They said. 

“SO?!” Lance screamed, “This is Shiro! And  _ZARKON!”_ He waved his arms in the air, trying to punctuate exactly why that is a bad idea but it just ended up making him look like even more of an idiot. 

“They look cute together I don't see why not.” Ewara said. 

“CUTE? NO!” Lance pulled at his hair, “Zarkon and Shiro do not go together!” 

“And why not?” Caelnis asked.

“They just DON'T!” He yelled. “You know what, I'm leaving!” 

“To where?” 

“To find some people who’ll understand me!’ Lance shouted over his shoulder as he stomped out of the workroom. The effect was ruined by the fact that the door gently slid closed behind him which frustrated him even further.


	13. Chapter 13

Loop 242 ALTEAN (14)

Lance was sure that this was one of, if not,  _the_ worst thing that ever happened to him in his very long and extensive life. And he was just about ready to tear his hair out.

There was no way in hell that he was going to let Shiro and Zarkon go on a date without him as a buffer. No. Fucking. Way. So he had no choice but to accept Allura’s invitation to the Crystal Cavern.

Surprisingly, to his horror and utter disappointment, the rest of the team was utterly unperturbed by the news.

Pidge barely looked up from her latest Rover as she said, “Yeah? So?”

Lance's eyes bulged, “ _Shiro._ Takashi Shirogane, that Shiro! Our Shiro!  _On a date_ with ZARKON!”

Hunk glanced up from his holopad, his expression passive, “It's not like he knows that it's a date, that's all Allura. Relax.”

“And Shiro's been using the ‘imply that I'm sleeping with Zarkon so I can disgust my team’ as a joke since loooooong ago,” Pidge said.

“Besides,” Keith added, “It's not like he'll  _actually_ date him.”

Lance swelled up with frustration and quietly stormed out, grimly determined to protect Shiro’s virtue no matter the cost. If his friends wouldn't help him then he'll just have to do it himself even if it killed him.

He desperately needed to talk to Shiro and warn him about Allura's plans. However, the princess of Altea herself had other plans. From the moment they met up at the castle's foyer to when they arrived at the Crystal Caverns itself, Allura never once left them alone.

Never.

She was always hovering, always in the background. Watching. Waiting.

Lance was pretty cute he was going to go bald before he hit the Altean equivalent of thirty.

Keeping an eye on them also meant that he had to interact with them. And hanging out with Zarkon was fucking weird. Like, reverse pooping weird. Zarkon was nice, charming and gentlemanly which in all honesty, made his hairs stand more than hearing about how he conquered the majority of the known galaxy.

The only thing worse that Lance could think of is knowing what Zarkon’s dingle dangle looked like. Oh wait, he does. This is officially the  _third_ worst thing that's ever happened in his long and extensive life.

The first was being in labour while escaping an alien race that was convinced he was the next coming of space Virgin Mary as an alien acid volcano was erupting, but that's another story entirely.

The Crystal Caverns, unlike its name implies, was not a cavern nor had it anything to do with crystals. It was just a really really fancy restaurant. A fancy restaurant with a mildly acidic waterfall flowing through it but a restaurant nevertheless.

Many Altean restaurants were simply a room with a hologram projector, displaying any sort of ambient scenery without the added discomfort of actually being outdoors such as insects or dirt and mud. Also, Altean insects can grow to be about the size of a dog from Earth so there's that.

However, the Crystal Caverns boasts an all natural setting. Which the Alteans and the tourists lapped up like ice cream on a hot summer's day.

The food was delicious, if a little (a lot) overpriced but Lance barely tasted the food as he was more concentrated on making sure that the space between Zarkon and Shiro remained at least a shoulder length apart.

Allura was also concentrating intently on the pair though for opposite reasons.

\-----

Shiro wasn't stupid.

He knew exactly what Allura was trying to do. Hell, he’s even pulled off something similar before in previous loops, only he was  _way_ more subtle.

To be honest, he couldn't care less about this whole matchmaking thing. There were more important things to worry about, like figuring out if Zarkon was going to betray Voltron or not.

However.

Seeing how frantic Lance was the entire day… 


	14. Chapter 14

Loop 242 ALTEAN (15)

Pidge sluggishly got up, clutching her head she groaned, “My head.” She rubbed a sore spot on her back, why was she sleeping on the ground? “What happened?”

She looked up and instead of seeing her Altean bedroom she was surrounded by the expanse of space. And trash. Lots and lots of space trash. What were they doing in the Trash Nebula? And were those the Lions she sees parked over there? What the hell? She counted the lions, Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, where was Black? Did Shiro fuck off to the Astral Plane to Netflix and Chill again?

It was then when she heard someone groan, “Sush not so loud” from behind her. She whipped around to see a pair of yellow-clad boots sticking out from a hole in the metal outer shell of what Pidge assumed was a ship.

“Hunk!” She exclaimed and hurried over to where he was, “Hunk get up!”

“Whaaaaat?” He groaned. He looked about as awful as she felt, dark bruises around his eyes and his hair sticking up everywhere, not to mention his mused clothes. Luckily they all had the mind to put on a helmet before jumping out into the void of space.

“We’re in the middle of the Trash Nebula!” She exclaimed. “And the Lions are right here!” She gestured wildly towards where the Lions crouched regally over them. “We have to get them back to Altea  _now_!”

Hunk spent a few seconds blinking blearily, squinting his eyes before giving up and collapsing back into the hole, ready to let the sweet sweet release of death take him.

“Get up get up!” She screeched, tugging uselessly at his arm. Even with her enhanced Altean strength, Hunk was still hard for her to lift.

“Are those the Lions?!” A faint voice echoed through the empty void. Pidge perked up and immediately abandons Hunk’s arm to jump out of the hole. She could recognise that voice anywhere.

Sure enough, it was the ex-red and blue paladins, stumbling on the uneven scratched up metal. “Keith, Lance?! Is that you?” Pidge gasps with relief. “Great! You guys need to get into your Lions and bring them back to Altea before someone notices.”

“Did we steal the Lions? Holy shit we stole the Lions didn’t we?!” Lance yelled.

“What the fuck happened last night?!” Keith groaned, rubbing his temples tenderly. “I knew we shouldn't have challenged Allura’s alcohol tolerance! She’s held the record of most pints Juniberry juice drunk in under a varga.”

And speak of the devil Allura herself pops out of the nearby pile of trash, a metal conical flask hanging on her head like a hat. She clutched her head, “What in the known universe happened?” she groaned. She glanced up, “Are those the Lions?”

A pause.

“ARE THOSE THE QUIZNACKING LIONS?!”


	15. Chapter 15

Loop 242 ALTEAN (16)

In the calm, silent void of space, more specifically the Trash Nebula, little floof balls floated peacefully through the various metal debris. They went on their daily routine of scavenging for food and generally being fucking adorable.  
  
And like a thundercrack, a voice pierced through the emptiness, “YOU CAN PILOT THE LIONS?!”

Lance scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. “Erm, surprise?”

“How is that even possible?!” Allura screeched.

Pidge cut them off, as in physically came in between them and pressed a hand to their shoulders. “Okay, that’s enough, we’ll explain later Princess but right now we need to get the Lions back to Altea. Hopefully, the Black Lion and Shiro are still there.”

Keith turned to Hunk, “Is it possible to contact Altea all the way from here?” he asked, “Because I don't want to waste time going back and forth if Shiro is floating about here somewhere.”

Hunk shook his head, “It’s too far for our comms,” He explained. “To do that we’d need a very large and very powerful signal amplifier.”

“No no no, I need answers!” Allura insisted.

“Anybody tried contacting Shiro to see if he was in our range?” Lance asked, completely ignoring her.

“Excuse me!” Allura gasped in indignation.

Pidge shook her head, also ignoring the Princess, “Already tried, no dice.”

“What did we even do last night?” Keith wondered.

“I think we mixed nunvil and juniberry juice together and rampaged through the streets.” Lance answered thoughtfully, “And then I think we knocked out the guards stationed at the Lion’s hangar and took them out for a joy ride.”

Pidge slapped her forehead, “Why did we think that was a good idea?” she groaned.

“Which part? The nunvil or the joyride?”

“I don't know, both?”

“Is ANYONE even listening to me?” Allura bellowed.

“Not really no,” Hunk sighed, “We’re just trying to avoid the inevitable uncomfortable conversation about how we can pilot the Lions is all.”

“What?”

“In any case, I think we should stop wasting time and get the Princess and the Lions back to Altea,” Keith said diplomatically.

“Yes, yes, true.” Lance added sagely, “Which is why she’ll be riding with you!” and with that the three other pilots raced to their (or not?) Lions, leaving Allura and Keith in the dust.

Keith sputtered, “Wha-what?! Oh, fuck you, guys!”


	16. Chapter 16

 Loop 242 ALTEAN (17)

Leaning on the headboard with an arm supporting his neck and a strange trumpet looking cigarette between his fingers, Shiro took a drag and blew the smoke up towards the ceiling, watching it swirl and drift.

The room was dimly lit with just a hint of a purple glow and the blanket was pooled around his bare waist.

Right next to him, Zarkon is lying ramrod straight on the bed with the blankets pulled up to his chin. His expression is that of complete and utter shock.

Shiro barely spared a glance at him and blew another smoke ring.

“...”

“...”

“...”

“So are you going to talk or-?” Zarkon began.

“No.”

“Fair enough.”


	17. Chapter 17

Loop 242 ALTEAN (18)

“So are you going to explain?” Allura asked impatiently.

Keith remained silent.

“Keith,” Allura said sweetly.

He remained silent.

“Keith.” She said sadly.

No response.

“Keith.” She said sternly in her I-am-your-princess-and-you-must-obey-me voice.

“You know that annoying him is just going to make him more stubborn.” Pidge’s face appeared on the comm.

“Oh quiznack off.” Allura snapped, “Can  _anybody_ tell me what in the known universe is going on?!”

The four was silent for a moment.

“We have no idea either?” Hunk offered sheepishly.

"What do you mean you have no idea?!" Allura yelled, "One does not simply pilot a lion!"

"Or walk to Mordor." Pidge piped up.

"Excuse me?"

"Just a reference you wouldn't get." Pidge waved a hand.

"Anyway," Allura shook her head, she was getting side tracked by them again, "Explain." 

"Magic?"

"Keith."

"Look, princess," Lance piped up on the comms, "We really don't know what's going on, one minute we were blind drunk the next we're floating in space."

"Yeah," Hunk agreed, "does anyone even remember what exactly we did last night?"

Allura blushed in frustration, she didn't remember either. She was pretty sure she made out with someone, not entirely sure who, oh quiznack what if it was Lance?! No. Nope. No. No. No. Got to scrub that thought put of her brain immediately. 

"You see!" Hunk said, "Now let's just get back to Altea and pretend this NEVER happened."

"Agreed." All if them chorused.


	18. Chapter 18

Loop 242 ALTEAN (19)

The Castle of Lion was in utter chaos, all of the Lion were nowhere to be found, the Princess was missing, as was the Captain of the Royal Guard  _and_  the Black Paladin himself. No one had any idea where they were and the guards who were stationed at the Lion's hangar was knocked out. An investigation showed that the security system was turned off at about two dobashes before the guards were reportedly knocked out.

Search parties were immediately deployed, legions and legions of troops sent out to find... everything basically. It was a big mess.

Caelnis and Ewara were freaked out by all of this, anyone would be, but it became even worse when they rushed to the sewing room to find it empty and completely trashed. 

"Oh my stars! What happened?!" Ewara gasped.

Fabric was strewn everywhere and the remains of the mannequins lay scattered on the floor. The sewing machines were taken apart and wires hung from the ceiling like party streamers.

"Lance?" Caelnis called out. "Lance!"

He checked under the mounds and mounds of fabric, hoping to find his friend/boss sleeping, or at least lying unconscious, there.

"He's not here!" Ewara exclaimed.

"You don't think he'd been taken too?" Caelnis gasped.

"But why would he be? He's not anyone important!" 

"Maybe he was with the princess at the time!"

"We have to tell the king!" Ewara grabbed Caelnis' collar, shaking him.

"Okay, wait," Caelnis held onto Ewara's hands, "Maybe he's with Pidge and Hunk." He tried to reason.

Ewara reluctantly released his collar, "Yeah, maybe you're right."

Caelnis was not right and was completely wrong.

"THEY'RE GONE TOO?!" Ewara screeched.

"Yes," A guard said, "Lance's family had reported him missing this morning, along with Hunk and Pidge's families, and though it hasn't been confirmed yet, Shirogane's younger brother hasn't been seen since last night and we suspect he is missing as well. Not only that, the access card that was used to turn off the security system was Pidge's."

"The five of them were always together!" Caelnis said, "Maybe they were together when they were taken!"

"Yeah!" Ewara nodded her head vigorously, "The princess and Zarkon were on a double date with Lance and Shiro, maybe the other four met up with them!"

"That sounds plausible," The guard said thoughtfully, "I did hear that Captain Shirogane was interested in Zarkon. I will report this to the higher ups immediately, in the meantime, please stay indoors."

"Oh stars, I hope that they're alright."

\-----

"Oh fuck we are  _not_ alright!" Hunk swore and vomited into the strange alien toilet bowl which was shaped like a cone.

 The team, minus Shiro and plus Allura, had stopped by somewhere, a dwarf planet? For food. 

The food was so raw the tentacles were still moving in the putrid neon pink goop, but Allura swore it was delicious. And taking the princess' word for it, everyone dug in.

Yeah, the food wasn't exactly agreeing with them.

"Remind me to never listen to Allura ever again," Lance groaned, dry heaving in the stall next to Hunk's.

"If I ever do, it will be  _too soon."_  Pidge moaned, leaning against the toilet bowl and relishing the cool surface against her flushed forehead.

_"Fuck y'all._ _"_ Keith growled,  _"Allura knows what she's doing, let's trust her, we trust her with our lives after all!"_ He said in a mocking high pitched tone. "Me trusting her with my life  _does not_  mean I trust her with my stomach." 

"Duly noted, we'll take that into consideration next time." Lance said hoarsely.

"There will  _be_  no next time." Pidge said firmly.

A polite knock came from the door. "Are you alright?" Allura's slightly muffled voice accompanied the knocking.

"Princess, with all due respect, _fuck off._ " Keith snarled.

 


	19. Chapter 19

Loop 242 ALTEAN (20)

Physically, it was really nice night with Zarkon. What Shiro was not expecting was the emotional baggage and talking the morning after. Yeah, Zarkon was an emotional over sharer, who woulda thunk.

“-and I still miss her you know? But she was getting too obsessed with that hole in the ground and it was killing my people you know? But oh my god I miss her so much-”

Shiro nodded and made all the appropriate noises at all the appropriate times. But seriously what the fuck? They literally just slept together and he was already sobbing about his ex and how much he still loves her, what the fuck.

“Have you tried talking to her since then?” Shiro asked politely,  _WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO HELP HIM?!_ , he screamed at himself.

Zarkon buried his head in his hands, “I have but she refuses to speak to me, she said the only way she’ll ever speak to me again is if I use Voltron to travel to an alternate dimension for her which I cannot because this obsession is not healthy for her.”

“...ah,” Shiro said helplessly. “Well, maybe you could give her some time and if you don't list as high in her priorities then she's not worth it." He rubbed the edge of the blanket, just itching to gtfo.

Zarkon leaned against the headboard, "Not only that, there's my son too..."

Shiro nodded along but his hand slipped under his pillow and activated the distress signal he stashed underneath it.


	20. Chapter 20

Loop 242 ALTEAN (21)

Keith knew exactly who it was when a beacon lit up on his monitor. “Hey guys,” he announced, “Guess who I found.”

“Whelp that solves one mystery.” Pidge said, “wanna go pick him up?”

“Wait what?” Allura asked, completely confused. She was hitching a ride with Lance this time because Keith said they needed to take turns.

“We found Shiro.” Lance explained.

Allura squinted at the screen, “That's a distress signal,” She said, “Are you sure you should be so calm right now? What if he's in trouble.”

“Well, the worst thing that could happen is him dying so no not really.” Keith deadpanned.

“WHAT?!” Allura exploded, “How could you say that?! He's your brother!”

“It's really not a big de-”

“Shut the quizsnack up,” She growled, using her wider hips and superior strength, she shoved Lance out of the pilot seat, “Get out of the way, I'm driving now.”

Lance sputtered, “Hey! You can't just-”

But Allura had already taken the reigns. She gasped as she felt the Lion in her mind for the first time as she as she grasped the controls.

“Huh,” She said and lifted her hands up to inspect them as if it were the first time she ever saw them, “I never knew it was so easy. Now I know how you four just hijacked the Lions last night.”


End file.
